This invention is generally related to the treatment of woods by applying chemical compounds. The invention specifically refers to a vehicle that is useful for applying chemical compounds on wood.
Various harmful biological agents are known that are capable of attacking wood, causing significant damage. Among these biological agents harmful for wood are insects, for example beetles (a term which includes various species of wood-eating insects whose larvae gnaw and bore wood), termites, moths, etc., and fungi, for example Poria vaillantii Fr., Coniophora cerebella Duey, Merulius lacrymans Wulf, Lentinus lepideus Fr., Lenzites sepiaria Wulf, Chaetomium globosum Kunz, etc.
The products normally used for treating and conserving wood generally comprise one or more active substances that are effective against the harmful biological agents to be eliminated, for example one or more insecticides and/or fungicides, and a vehicle for introducing the active substances into the tunnels and cavities generated in the wood by the action of the harmful biological agents.
The number of vehicles that are effective as active substance carriers inside the wood is currently very limited. Among those vehicles normally used in products for treating and conserving wood are water, inorganic arsenic derivatives, pentachlorophenol and creosote.
Water is the most commonly used carrier. However, it scarcely penetrates the wood, so the active substances applied to the wood using the vehicle therefore do not satisfactorily penetrate it, remaining on the surface, thereby significantly reducing the effectiveness of the active substances.
The other vehicles have a very slight wood penetration index, generally about 2 to 6 mm after 24 hours. In soft and porous woods, penetration indices of the vehicle of up to 6 mm are obtained, whereas in hard and non-porous woods, the vehicles penetrate between 2 and 3 mm during a 24 hour time period.
Therefore, there is a necessity to find new vehicles that are useful for applying chemical compounds on woods, which vehicles advantageously have a high wood penetration index.
The invention provides a solution to the existing necessity that comprises the development of a new vehicle for applying chemical compounds on woods, the vehicle comprising a mixture of several components. The vehicle has a high wood penetration index, determined by means of a trial comprising the application of the vehicle at a point on the wood, allowing the vehicle to act for a period of time, and determining the advance of the vehicle front by means of cutting the wood and measuring the advance of the vehicle front.
A vehicle such as the one provided by this invention is useful for treating woods, specifically for treating and preventing damage caused by the attack of biological agents that are harmful for wood.
One object of this invention is the vehicle for applying chemical compounds on woods. An additional object of this invention is a composition comprising the vehicle together with at least one chemical compound. Another object of this invention is a method for treating wood, comprising applying the composition in a sufficient quantity to the wood to be treated.
The invention provides a vehicle that is useful for applying chemical compounds on woods (hereinafter xe2x80x9cvehicle of the inventionxe2x80x9d), the vehicle comprising:
All the components constituting the vehicle of the invention are commercial products. In the sense used in this description, the term xe2x80x9cbenzophenonexe2x80x9d includes both benzophenone (diphenylmethanone) and the hydroxylated or methoxylated derivatives thereof (see for example The Merck Index, 11th Edition, (1989)). Likewise, the term xe2x80x9cbutylxe2x80x9d includes any of the butyl isomers.
In a particular embodiment, the vehicle of the invention has the following composition:
The vehicle of the invention can be easily prepared by means of a process that comprises mixing the components in the desired proportions.
Several trials have clearly shown the high penetration index of the vehicle of the invention in different woods (see Example 1). It can therefore be used for applying chemical compounds on woods, for example, chemical compounds useful for treating woods, specifically for treating and preventing damage caused by the attack of biological agents that are harmful for wood (see Example 2).
The invention also provides a composition (hereinafter xe2x80x9ccomposition of the inventionxe2x80x9d), the composition comprising at least one chemical compound and a vehicle of the invention. The vehicle of the invention can be present in the composition of the invention in a widely variable quantity; for example, the composition of the invention may contain about 0.1 to 99.9% by weight of the vehicle of the invention, the rest being constituted of the compound or chemical compounds, in which case the chemical compounds can be present in any weight ratio that is suitable among them. The composition of the invention can be easily obtained by mixing the vehicle of the invention with the compound or chemical compound in the suitable weight ratio. The composition of the invention is in liquid form, for example in a solution or dispersion.
In a particular embodiment of the invention, the composition of the invention is a composition that is useful for treating wood, comprising one or more chemical compounds that are useful for treating wood, in addition to the vehicle of the invention. In another more specific embodiment of the invention, the composition of the invention is an insecticide and/or fungicide composition, useful for treating and/or preventing damage caused by insects and/or fungi which attack wood, comprising one or more insecticides and/or one or more fungicides, in addition to the vehicle of the invention.
Among those insecticides and/or fungicides that may be present in the composition of the invention, the following examples are included: chlorpyrifos, fipronil, silafluofen, acetamiprid, etofenprox, tripropyl isocyanurate, fenobucarb, hexaflumuron, fenitrothion, esfenvalerate, imidacloprid, difluobenzuron, lambda-cyhalothrin, clothalonil, propiconazole and the mixtures thereof. In this case, the composition of the invention is useful for inhibiting the development of biological agents that are harmful for wood, such as insects, for example, beetles, termites, moths, etc., and fungi, for example, Poria vaillantii Fr., Coniophora cerebella Duey, Merulius lacrymans Wulf, Lentinus lepideus Fr., Lenzites sepiaria Wulf, Chaetomium globosum Kunz, etc.
The wood penetration index obtained with the composition of the invention generally corresponds to that of the vehicle used. The penetration index may vary, depending on the type of wood as well as the degree of humidity thereof.
The invention also provides a method for treating wood, which method comprises applying a composition of the invention to the wood to be treated in a sufficient quantity so as to obtain the desired effect. In the sense used in this description, the expression xe2x80x9capplying a composition of the invention to the wood to be treatedxe2x80x9d includes, for example, applying the composition of the invention on the surface to the wood to be treated, as well as introducing the composition of the invention, by any suitable means, into the tunnels and cavities generated in the wood by the action, for example, of harmful biological agents.
The following examples serve to illustrate the invention and must not be considered limiting for the scope thereof.